Schools Receive $25,000 STEAM grant
Awarded $25,000 Agency of Education STEAM Challenge Grant
Randolph Union High School (RUHS) and Randolph Technical Career Center (RTCC) were recently awarded a $25,000 STEAM Challenge Grant through the Agency of Education. Over the next semester, students at RUHS, RTCC, and Braintree Elementary will be engaging in an interdisciplinary and collaborative project focused on the recently opened Braintree Elementary Blossom Farmstand and business. They will be taking on roles through various RUHS courses and RTCC programs, engaging in the engineering design process to evaluate, design, and implement a sustainable energy resource solution that will provide refrigeration, lighting, and security to the farmstand.
The Tech Center Programs and students participating in Student Project Teams, and engaging in the engineering design process, include: Braintree Elementary’s 4/5/6 Student Committee and Principal Patti Sprague; Braintree's K-6 STEAM educator Jeff Green; the RUHS STEAM & Innovation Center’s Applied Engineering class with Andrew Scott; RTCC’s Electrical Program with Peter Busha; RTCC’s Construction Trades and Management Program with Doug Van DaLinda. Students in RTCC’s Digital Media Arts Program will be documenting the work (and learning along the way) with assistance from Program Director Lance Madzey.
Student Project Teams will also be partnering with Vermont Technical College’s Renewable Energy Program, VTC’s ASHRAE Student Club, and Catamount Solar as subject area experts and as industry partners to implement solutions as determined by the Student Project Teams.
"We were so pleased to receive notice that we'd been selected for this award," said Heather Lawler, OSSD’s Assistant Superintendent and District Equity Coordinator. "The grant will allow students from elementary, middle, and high school grades to interact not only with one another, but also with college and business level peers to identify and solve real world problems. It really is the best of all possible scenarios, as it brings science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics out of the classroom and into a real life situation that can be a learning experience for everyone involved."